A Meaningless Post

With all the talking I'm doing at school and at church, on top of the other responsibilities of life, I haven't been posting as much of late.

I've found I haven't had quite enough time to write anything meaningful.

So I'm sitting here staring at the computer asking myself, why start now?

Instead, let's talk T.V.

It pains me to admit, I watch American Idol.

Though honestly I'm a little less ashamed after reading this article by an eminent American theologian.

He's a great writer and he's much smarter than me...I love what he has to say, still after reading this particular article, I have to admit I have a bone to pick.

Just listen to his explanation why American idol is such a hit.

"I think it is the pleasure of watching others fail, of having their dreams torn down, of being crushed by the cutting comments of the English hardman on the panel, that exerts the attraction... It is the weekly spectacle of seeing more wannabes biting the dust which keeps everyone tuning in, episode after episode. Indeed, I confess it: I like nothing more than seeing the fresh faced Jessica or Mary-Lou or Brad or Chad having their hopes of stardom ripped from their hands and then being dispatched back to supermarket checkout from whence they came. Nasty, but true. To quote two sayings of the cynic’s cynic, Gore Vidal: it is not enough to succeed; others must fail; and (perhaps even more horribly honest) every time I hear of the success of a friend, a little piece of me dies. Idol plays unashamedly to such basic instincts, instincts found in all of us."

Now I believe in depravity and all that and I appreciate Trueman's honesty - plus I'm guessing he's going a little bit over the top, but still I've honestly never once thought of it like that.

In fact, to sound a little less like a theologian or a pastor and probably more like an elementary school student out at recess, I have to ask...do you really think most people are that mean?

I'm serious.

Do you really think a lot of people really think like that? That they enjoy watching something to see someone fail?

Or am I just another naive American?